(Previous
Page) the human race. It is easy, and
apparently generous, to say, "Go, and sting no more." But, unluckily, it is the
nature of rattlesnakes to sting. Yet a rattlesnake, you think, has a right to
the life nature gave it. Yes; but so have your children. And when snakes and
children are in the same nursery, you must decide promptly which has the better
right.

If a man should say, "Don't hurt
that rattlesnake; your business is simply to prevent his stinging your child,"
would you call that man a knave or a fool? Would you think he had much regard
for the life of your child? Having flung the dead snake from the window,
wouldn't you feel very much like throwing that man after it? And wouldn't you
always afterward believe that, if rattlesnakes could become men, they would
become just such men as he?

—Or you, dear Madame, discovering
mould upon your apple-pies, what would you do if you were, like your respected
husband, conservative in all your views and acts? Would you put your pastry into
a damp corner, or would you scrape the mould off?

There is a conservatism which
preserves and propagates mould, and another conservatism which scrapes it
away-just as the one reasons with rattlesnakes and the other punches their
heads. Monseigneur, of the old French regime, was a conservative of the first
class; George Washington of the second.

—An illustration is not an
argument, you think? Yes; but some things need no argument, but only an
illustration.

A NEW REIGN OF TERROR.

THE article in the Richmond
Examiner of March 3, which has been generally copied into our papers, can not be
read without the same emotion which is excited by the history of the French
Revolution In 1793-'94. The rebellion is becoming a domestic reign of terror.
Nor can any man be surprised at the result. The inexorable logic of facts
explains it. In a society which has assumed that to question the most atrocious
injustice is so dangerous to social existence that the questioner may be
properly lynched, what can be expected when it feels itself in danger from any
cause? A man who carries concealed weapons will draw them upon every occasion of
danger, real or fancied. A society which is founded upon injustice is
necessarily barbarous.

Southern society is composed of
the aristocracy who own the laborers, and the great middle class, more ignorant
than any corresponding class in the world at the present day. Wealth and
distinction are in the hands of the aristocracy. The middle class are poor and
wretched; but they feel their wretchedness compensated by the fact that there is
a servile race beneath them, and that by virtue of color they are the peers of
the aristocracy. Hence, although not rich enough to own
slaves, they support
slavery, and they are the ready tools of the slave lords. Passionate, ignorant,
prejudiced, ferocious—bred in a society where the unbridled will of rich
proprietors is practically the sole law of a subject race—here are the elements
of the most remorseless mob.

And to the reign of this mob the
article in the Examiner, and similar articles in papers of the Southwest plainly
point. No honorable and loyal citizen of the United States but must shudder as
he contemplates the present position of men who have been faithful to their
country, but who are at last exposed to the pitiless crowd which has been made
sullen by the defeat of its armies, and has been inflamed by the appeals of
leaders anxious to divert to the heads of the innocent the punishment of their
own crimes. The editors of the Richmond Examiner would rather see John M. Botts
hung to a lamp-post than their own office gutted and themselves swung from its
windows.

The reign of terror that has long
existed in the rebellious section now openly appears. As in the blackest hour of
the mob despotism in Paris, men are in danger of losing their lives upon
suspicion of being suspected. "Now that the Government," says the Examiner,
"appears really in earnest in the suppression of treason, it becomes every
citizen who knows a man or set of men inimical to our country and cause to point
them out."

This is the very tone of the
French terrorism. "The more the social body perspires," said Collot d'Herbois,
"the healthier it becomes."

Here again is the Richmond
Examiner: "The universal Yankee sympathizers dangling from as many lamp-posts
would have a most wholesome and salutary effect.

It is but the echo of the French
terrorist Barrere: "There are none but the dead who do not return."

Our faithful fellow-citizens now
in the power of the rebels, in whom desperation breeds ferocity, are exposed to
these frightful perils. Their situation is but another stern appeal for the
exercise of every power that can most speedily end the rebellion and secure
actual peace. Already the bad bold men of the South are drifting into the
terrible necessities of their stupendous crimes against human society. And how
accurately does the French historian Mignet, describing the terrorists of '93
and '94, describe the chiefs of the rebels of today in Richmond and the
Southwest:

"Sprung from contention, they
wish to support themselves by it. With one hand they fight to defend their
domination, with the other they lay the foundation of their system. They kill in
the name of their principles. Virtue, humanity, the welfare of the people, all
that is most sacred upon earth, they employ to sanction their executions, to
protect their dictatorship, until they are worn out and fall."

"SOLID MEN OF BOSTON."

MR. SENATOR DAVIS, of Kentucky,
presented a petition from citizens of Boston, the other day, asking Congress to
drop discussing the negro, and to take order for suppressing the rebellion.

These worthy citizens of Boston,
who must have at least three relatives in Gotham, ought to send

a petition to
Commodore Foote to
drop considering how many guns and gun-boats he must have for
Memphis, and to
take measures to defeat the enemy. They ought long ago to have sent word to
General McClellan to stop bothering with fortifications at
Washington, and
attend to subduing the conspiracy. They ought to have telegraphed to
Grant at
Fort Donelson and
Burnside at
Roanoke not to be firing guns and charging
bayonets, but to hurry up victory.

Those Generals would smile and
hold their tongues—as they have done before. But some young aid might whisper to
these citizens of credit and renown in famous Boston town that, in calculating
forces, and building fortifications, and killing rebels with mortars and rifled
guns, these Generals were doing the very thing required. They were forcing the
enemy, by the relentless eloquence of injury to person and property and social
peace, to submit.

Doubtless Congress will make no
reply to these worthy citizens of Boston. But if they listen they will hear that
Congress is doing what the Generals are—considering how to force the enemy to
submit, and how to destroy the tap-root of treason.

HUMORS OF THE DAY.

I ONCE HAD A TAILOR.
(SONG OF A WALL-FLOWER.)
AIR—"My Lodging is on the Cold Ground."

I ONCE had a Tailor; 'tis some
time ago: More years than I care to confess.

But then I delighted in personal
show, And paid some attention to dress.

My dress suit has lasted from
that time to this; For service it only hath seen

On occasions like visits of
envoys from Bliss, Not many, and distant between.

Its nap is as yet but a little
effaced,

And that you want daylight to
see;

But the coat of my youth is too
small in the waist, So the trowsers and vest are, for me.

Costumes oft have changed since
this old one was new; But its style may revive in our day:

So I yet may appear in the
fashion like you,

Once again, ere I cast it away,

Which is the most deceitful part
of a lady's walking-costume?—The false hood on her cloak.

MATHEMATICAL.—If a house has
three stories, how many tales has it?

BODY-SNATCHER'S MOTTO.-De mortuis
nil nisi bone'em.

THE CLAIMS OF KINDRED.—The
greatest rarities in the world are kind relatives. Truly kind relatives will
never oppose your inclinations, but, on the contrary, encourage you to follow
them, and will take all unpleasant consequences of your doing so on themselves.
They will lend you money to speculate with, and as often as you fail they will
allow you to fall back upon them, and lend you more, and so on until they have
no more to lend, and then they will lend you their names and their credit, and
apologize to you for having done so little for you.—NEERDOWEEL On Goodness.

PROVERBS A LA DUNDREARY,

And dedicated, with every respect
for that nobleman's
stupendous stupidity, to Mr. Sothern, T. R. H.

There are as many early birds as
were ever caught in the sea.

Too many broths spoil the child.

Cut your mutton according to your
dinner-cloth.

When Love flies out of the
window, it's useless shutting the stable door.

Nine tailors make a man look
alive, I believe you. Spare the rod, and you'll have no fish for dinner. When
things won't mend, it's best to wash your dirty linen at home.

Fine feathers butter no parsnips.

Adversity makes us acquainted
with strange bed-fellows, but it's absurd kicking against them.

There's a silver lining to every
cloud—no, no (stuttering, hesitating, correcting himself, and attempting all the
while to sneeze), it isn't that—it's a coat—of course it is? —there's a silver
lining to every coat, to be sure—that's it! How foolish to suppose it was a
cloud! Who ever saw a cloud with a silver lining? Ha! ha! By Jove, it might as
well have gold facings, a velvet collar, and a star on its breast.

One man may steal a hedge, while
another mustn't even as much as look a gift-horse in the mouth!

Which is the most enduring
trade?—A cobbler's, because it is ever-lasting, and the sole is at the bottom of
it all.

Why is weeping in solitude like
the Confederate ship Sumter ?—Because it's a private tear.

A young lady who has the
misfortune to know little of music, and yet who is vain of her singing, was
recently entertaining a party of friends with a somewhat difficult song, in a
shrill voice, when an old bachelor lodging in the same house rushed out of his
room to the head of the stairs, and shouted, "What are you hurting that pig for?
Turn him into the yard!"

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE.

CONGRESS.

On Tuesday, March 4, in the
Senate, a memorial from merchants and others, of New York, doing business on the
Pacific coast, asking Congress to provide immediately for the transportation of
the mails between New York and San Francisco, via Aspinwall and Panama, was
presented and referred. The bill providing for the safe keeping and maintenance
of United States prisoners was passed. The bill authorizing the President to
appoint a Commissioner to confer with British and French Commissioners, to take
measures for the preservation of the Atlantic fisheries, was passed. A bill
providing for the codification and revision of the laws of the District of
Columbia was reported. The

Confiscation bill was taken up,
and Senator McDougall, of California, concluded his speech in opposition to it.
Senator Cowan, of Pennsylvania, also spoke against the bill. The Conference
Committee on the bill relative to paying certain Western railroads for
transporting troops made a report, which was agreed to. The Senate then went
into executive session, and afterward adjourned. In the House, the Pennsylvania
contested election case was taken up, and Mr. Verree, the sitting member,
declared entitled to his seat. The Senate's amendments to the bill providing
additional clerks to the New York Assistant Treasurer's office, and for the
appointment of a Deputy Assistant Treasurer, were agreed to.

On Wednesday, March 5, in the
Senate, petitions in favor of a general bankrupt law, and asking for the
transmission of the California mails via Panama, were presented and referred. A
bill granting pay, pensions, and bounty to the Kentucky Home Guard was
introduced by Senator Davis. Senator Morrill, of Maine, then made a speech in
favor of the Confiscation bill, and the further consideration of the subject was
postponed. A joint resolution authorizing equitable settlements with contractors
who have failed to construct machinery by the day stipulated in their contracts,
was referred to the Naval Committee. The bill for the codification and revision
of the laws of the District of Columbia was passed. The bill defining the pay
and emoluments of certain army officers was taken up, and several unimportant
amendments adopted. The pay of all chaplains was fixed at $1200 per annum, and
the bill then laid aside. After an executive session the Senate adjourned.—In
the House, a bill increasing the number of cadets at the West Point Academy was
introduced. A bill appropriating $60,353 to carry out the treaty for the
abolition of the Stadt dues was passed. A bill to discontinue pensions to the
children of officers and soldiers of the Revolution was passed. A joint
resolution authorizing the sale of all unsuitable army supplies was adopted. The
Committee on Military Affairs reported a bill to define the pay and emoluments
of army officers, and also a bill to compensate loyal citizens for property
destroyed, and to prevent the same being used by the enemy.

On Thursday, March 6, in the
Senate, the Post-office Appropriation bill and the Postal Money Order bill were
reported respectively by the Committees on Finance and Postal Affairs. A joint
resolution tendering the thanks of Congress to Commodore Goldsborough and his
officers and seamen for their gallant conduct at
Roanoke Island, was adopted
unanimously. The bill relative to the pay of Congressmen was taken up, and an
amendment allowing twenty cents per mile for mileage was adopted. Further debate
on the bill was cut off by a motion to go into executive session, which was
agreed to.-In the House, a Message from the President was received, suggesting
the adoption of a joint resolution providing for co-operation with any State for
the abolition of slavery with pecuniary consideration. The President, in
proposing this initiatory step, predicts important practical results therefrom.
On motion of Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, the Message was referred to the
Committee of the Whole. The report of the Conference Committee on the resolution
providing for the payment of Western war claims was accepted, and the resolution
adopted. The bill providing for the organization of the division staffs of the
army was passed. The Committee of Ways and Means reported a bill to provide for
the purchase of coin and for other financial purposes, which was laid over. A
long defense of Alexander Cummings, a contractor for army supplies, was read,
and several speeches on the slavery and war questions were delivered in
Committee of the Whole, and the house adjourned.

On Friday, March 7, in the
Senate, the President's Message on the subject of emancipating slaves was read
and referred to the Judiciary Committee. Memorials asking immediate action on
the subject of the transmission of the California mails via Panama, and
compensation for the loss of the steamer Governor, were presented. The bill to
provide for the occupation and cultivation of cotton lands was, after a brief
discussion, passed by a vote of 26 to 14. The Senate then went into executive
session.—In the House, the Secretary of War was directed to communicate all the
facts regarding the number, age, condition, amount of service performed, and the
pay, cost of maintenance, etc., of the Africans at
Fortress Monroe. A bill was
introduced granting bounty and pensions to pilots, engineers, seamen, and crews
of gun-boats. The bill authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase
coin and for other purposes, was passed, without amendment. In Committee of the
Whole, Mr. Blair, of Missouri, criticised
General Fremont's military campaign in
the West, and Mr. Colfax delivered a long speech warmly defending the General's
conduct.

On Monday, March 10, in the
Senate, a joint resolution, requiring higher qualifications for commanders of
military divisions, was introduced and referred to the Military Committee.
Objection was made to the introduction of a joint resolution coinciding with the
proposition in the President's late special Message for aid to States desiring
to emancipate their slaves. The bill to encourage enlistments in the army was
taken up, and after considerable discussion amendments were adopted reducing the
number of volunteer cavalry regiments to thirty, and striking out the provision
giving bounty for enlistments from the volunteer into the regular service, when
the bill was passed. The Confiscation bill was taken up, and Senator Browning,
of Illinois, addressed the Senate. A vote of thanks to Commodore Foote was
passed. The bill making a new Article of War, to the effect that no officer of
the army shall return fugitive slaves, was taken up, debated, and finally
passed, by 29 yeas to 9 nays, when the Senate adjourned.—In the House, the
Senate bill to regulate the sutler department in the volunteer service was taken
up, and, after a long debate, and being amended, was passed. It requires
schedules of articles permitted to be sold to be prominently posted in the
camps, and prohibits sutlers from farming out their offices or selling to
soldiers to an amount exceeding one-fourth their monthly pay. It also stops the
sutler's lien on soldiers' pay. A resolution to forward the proposition of the
President's special Message relative to aiding States which desire to abolish
slavery was introduced, and a long debate on it took place, consuming the
greater portion of the day; but the House adjourned without taking final action
on it.

Leesburg, one of the rebel
strong-holds on the Upper Potomac, fell into our hands last week, On Friday
night Colonel Geary left Lovettsville with his whole force for Leesburg. He
marched triumphantly through Wheatland and Waterford, scattering the rebel
forces before him. He took possession of Fort Johnson, one of the strongest
defenses of the town, at sunrise on 8th, and entered Leesburg with fixed
bayonets and flags flying, driving the rebel General Hill with all his command
from the town and the surrounding forts, in full retreat toward Middleburg.

THE REBELS FALLING BACK ALONG THE
WHOLE
LINE.

The rebels are falling back from
the lines of the Potomac in every direction. They have evacuated
Winchester, on
the left wing of their lines, before the advancing troops of General Banks's
division. Centreville, in the centre of their position, is also abandoned; the
whole line of the Lower Potomac, with all its formidable batteries, is
evacuated, and we learn, as we close this record, that the rebels have withdrawn
from their almost impregnable position at Manassas, which is now held by our
troops.

CAPTURE OF BRUNSWICK AND
FERNANDINA.

The naval expedition of
Commodore Dupont has accomplished a splendid
feat on the Southern coast by the capture of Brunswick, Georgia, and Fernandina,
Florida, which gives the Government command of the whole coast of Georgia, from
South Carolina to Florida. On the approach of our fleet at Brunswick the rebels
fled, abandoning their works, which were taken possession of by our troops. The
fleet then proceeded twenty miles further South, and entered Cumberland Sound,
the entrance to Fernandina, and drove the rebels from Fort Clinch, which was
immediately occupied and the Union flag hoisted. The mission of the expedition
was accomplished on the 4th of March. The troops of General Wright took
possession of the fort and the town of Fernandina.

ANOTHER VICTORY IN ARKANSAS.

An official dispatch was received
by General McClellan on 10th from
General Halleck announcing the complete rout
and defeat of the combined rebel armies of Generals
Price,
McCulloch, Van Dorn,
and M'Intosh, at Sugar Creek, near Boston Mountains, in Arkansas, by the Union
army

under
General Curtis. The victory
was a brilliant one, and disposes of the rebel forces in that quarter. The fight
lasted three days. Our loss is said to be 1000 killed and wounded, and that of
the rebels is considerably more. A large quantity of stores, flags, guns, and
ammunition were captured by General Curtis. Our cavalry was in rapid pursuit of
the flying rebels. The energy of General Curtis is worthy of all praise.

REIGN OF TERROR AT RICHMOND.

The Union sentiment in Richmond
appears to be growing too strong for the comfort of the rebel chiefs. It will be
remembered that
Jeff Davis proclaimed martial law in
Norfolk and Portsmouth a
few days ago, and on Saturday last a proclamation put Richmond also under
military rule. John Minor Botts and twenty other leading citizens have been
arrested and imprisoned on charges of being connected with a Union conspiracy.
The streets of Richmond are placarded with calls upon the Union men to watch and
wait, that the day is dawning, and proclaiming "The Union forever!" The Richmond
Dispatch advocates the execution of the conspirators. A great panic prevails in
the city, consequent upon the late defeats of the rebel arms.

The Richmond papers of Friday
last contain an announcement of the arrest of a number of Union men, principally
Germans. The discovery by a detective officer, in the room of the Turners, of
two
National flags, and a painting of the Goddess of Liberty, with other Union
symbols, led to the arrests.

THE REBELS BESIEGED AT NEW
MADRID.

New Madrid, where the rebels have made a stand, with a force of nearly
10,000 men, with four gun-boats at anchor off the town, is completely invested
by the army of General Pope. Some skirmishes had taken place there, in which
several of our troops were killed by shells thrown from the rebel gun-boats. New
Madrid is a flourishing little town on the
Mississippi river, 280 miles
southeast of Jefferson City. It is the capital of Madrid County, has a
population of 2000 inhabitants, and enjoys a large business in shipping corn,
lumber, and cattle for the Southern market The officers of General Pope's
command are confident that as soon as the gun-boats are silenced the town will
fall easily into our hands.

OUR ARMY IN TENNESSEE.

Nashville remains perfectly
tranquil under the gentle rule of
General Buell, whose head-quarters are at
Edgefield, across the river. The people are agreeably surprised at the
moderation of our troops. The Mayor had formally surrendered the city to General
Buell, and issued a proclamation to the citizens requesting that business be
resumed, assuring them of the protection of General Buell, announcing that the
elections will take place on the regular day, and inviting the country people to
bring in their produce as usual. An agent of the Post-office Department had
arrived from Washington, and will open the Nashville Post-office soon. He has
had forty applications for clerkships already.

JOHNSTON FLYING AGAIN.

A rebel dispatch from Atlanta,
Georgia, confirms the report that Murfreesborough, Tennessee, has been occupied
by our troops, and gives the additional information that the rebel general,
A.
S. Johnston, had retreated to Decatur, Alabama, a station on the Memphis and
Charleston Railroad. This indicates that the rebels, instead of concentrating at
Chattanooga, as anticipated, are tending toward
Memphis, where the great stand
is to be made to dispute the possession of the Mississippi Valley.

MORE UNION FEELING ON THE
TENNESSEE.

A dispatch from Lieutenant Gwin,
of the gun-boat Tyler, who made a landing at Pittsburg under a flag of truce,
says that the cry of the people is to "send us arms and sufficient forces to
protect us in organizing ourselves, and we will drive the rebels out of
Tennessee ourselves." The utmost joy was exhibited at Nashville on the Stars
and. Stripes being displayed there, and the familiar tunes of "Hail Columbia"
and "Yankee Doodle," played by our bands, were welcomed with enthusiasm.

THE TENNESSEE LEGISLATURE.

The Tennessee Legislature is
having a hard time at Memphis. Another meeting was held on the 27th ultimo, when
each house resolved itself into a Committee of the 'Whole for the purpose of
counting noses, and the following was the result:

Present. Absent,

Senate 10 15

House 22 50

THE LATEST FROM THE GULF.

Our news from Ship Island is of
an interesting character. The health of the men is good, although the weather is
very hot, the thermometer marking ninety-five degrees in the shade. The details
of the capture of the rebel steamer Magnolia, with 1150 bales of cotton, by the
South Carolina, while attempting to run out of
Mobile, are published. She threw
overboard about two hundred and fifty bales, her entire cargo consisting of 1400
bales of the valuable staple. She was bound for Havana. The capture of a dozen
or more oyster boats, on their way to
New Orleans, will considerably diminish
the supply and increase the price of this delicious article in the Crescent City
of rebeldom.

PERSONAL.

Governor
Andrew Johnson, with his
staff, accompanied by Messrs. Etheridge and Maynard, left Washington on Saturday
evening for Nashville, to enter upon their charge of the new Government of
Tennessee.

The rebels give as a reason for
not exchanging Colonel Corcoran, as expected, that maps and drawings were found
concealed upon his person.

The Grand Army of the Potomac has
been divided by General McClellan into five corps d'armee, respectively
commanded by Generals Heintzelman, McDowell, Sumner, Keyes, and Banks.

FOREIGN NEWS.

ENGLAND.

AMERICAN AFFAIRS IN PARLIAMENT.

OUR affairs continue to be
discussed in Parliament. Mr. Bright has made an energetic speech in condemnation
of the outlay, added to the naval estimates, incurred by the policy which
terminated in the
surrender of Mason and Slidell. Mr. Bright evidently thinks,
as a commercial liberal, that the game was not worth the cost charged to the
British people. Lord Palmerston defended the course pursued by his Cabinet.

Earl Russell acknowledges himself
satisfied with the operation of the Union Government in
sinking the stone fleet
off Charleston harbor. He says the measure was merely an aid to the blockade and
was not intended to be permanent. Indeed he says that
Charleston harbor could
not be obliterated by artificial means, as the water will force an opening in
another channel, and that Napoleon agrees with him in the opinion.

Lord Palmerston had stated in the
House of Commons that the negotiations relative to the San Juan affair had been
suspended, in consequence of the civil war in America, but a joint provisional
occupation of the island had been arranged by both Governments. The British
Government, in response to a request from The O'Donoghue, had refused to afford
any information relative to British vessels running the blockade.

ARREST OF THE CAPTAIN OF THE
"SUMTER."

The commander of the privateer Sumter has been arrested by the Moorish
authorities at Tangier, but we are not informed as to the cause. The Liverpool
Courier of the 26th ultimo says: "The ground upon which the arrest was made is
not explained, but from the fact that it was made at the request of the North
American Consul, we may surmise that it was on the allegation that
Captain
Semmes is it common marauder and pirate." The Dublin Freeman of the 27th ultimo
remarks: "The arrest was made at the instance of the Federal Consul at Gibraltar
and of the Captain of the Federal steamer Tuscarora, who proceeded to Tangier in
order to influence the Moorish authorities, and who seem to have found the Moors
more complaisant than Christian nations, and more ready to regard the laws of
nations as binding them to aid the Northerners against the Southerners.

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